Solar still - Sea made drinkable
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 30 май 2024
- Solar still makes fresh water from salt water. Used in Liferafts for survival at sea and emergency situations. Sun heats up the salt water which than evaporates and condensates. It is part of emergency equipment on many ocean going sailboats and vessels.
www.alivesailing.com/
/ skipper_igor
SUBSCRIBE to my channel: bit.ly/3wLa6vp 
Спорт
I recently read a book by a guy who stayed alive in a life raft for 76 days drifting across the Atlantic. He had two of these as his main source of fresh water.
Actually I saw the documentary, he said they did not come with a manual thus he did not know how to use them.
@@Couplescience Wow, I can't imagine how scary that must have been.
@@DrAhmadNabeel i think i found a flaw in the product's manufacturing process
Why do the maker of water makers do not use this technology - no wasted filters.
@@user9b2 Because you would use way more energy to transport the water and distilled water is more readily infected with bacteria due to less competitive inhibition. Also filters last a long time as they are one of the final steps in treatment.
Since I taught this in the military I can assure you the instructions say to have it set up before sunrise and DON'T play with it until after sunset.
If you play around with it the action slows down the production. Just Leave It T.F. Alone until after sunset. Great demonstration !!!!!
how do you clean it... itll turn into an algea bucket... i feel like thats left out of the video for a reason...
@@jacobhoffman2553yea dude, its for a life raft, not for permanent use
@@jacobhoffman2553the collection point could but the algae won’t be in the distillation, if the interior walls got grimy I suppose it would be good if you could leave exposed to direct air/sun for a bit
@@jacobhoffman2553 there is a reason why some people should stay in their NY-NY apartment...
This is evaporated water within 6 to 8hrs
bottom sediment is salt
top sediment is dead water, empty from any life, no mineral
Bacteria grow/feed on what?
You taught this in the military, ok, but this ain't Nam - it's the Bahamas
That is a Fitzgerald still. I was fortunate enough to be helping Dr Fitzgerald with another project in the last '60's when he was developing this still design at RAE Farnborough. The principle feature is that conical, pointed top that allows condensed water to flow down the sides for collection, rather than drip from the top surface (of a ball) back to the black salt water collector.
The fact that these are still being used points to the genius of the original specs and design. It was taken up by NATO for military survival and then by Aquamate for civilian use. Makes up to 2 litres per day in good sun.
Odd that I can't find a reference to any Dr. Fitzgearld (well, *you're* Dr. Fitzgerald) and any type of solar still... nothing for a Fitzgerald Still either. I can't find anything with the RAE and the name Fitzgerald. Help me out.
@@brianbassett4379 No I am just a retired Ex RAF pilot. I was seconded to Farnborough to specifically help out with some trials with the early Martin Baker ejection seats. Jim Fitgerald was pursuing various experiments to determine the amount of spinal compression that occurred with passive seating and shoulder strap arrangements on these seats.
But that is perhaps not specifically interesting. The point was I was / am tall, with a long back and I was available between courses. The military is good at finding pegs for shaped holes. Anyway the point is, my experimental usefulness was usually over by about 10:00 as all my back compression was expended and only a night horizontal could get that back (pun intended).
The still was one of the side projects that Jim had running and helped with in the PM. Somewhere I have pictures on me on the flat roof of the main building tending a prototype that looks exactly like the one in the video above. Right down to the black felt base and collection baggie. I don't recall the filler being the same, but it is a long time ago. However I was party to many rather interesting discussions about the utility of the conical top and the side ring collection etc.
The prototypes were based, as far as I could tell, on simple children's inflatable rings with the top portion of plastic, cut and glued to form the cone.
I did come across a unit in a sea survival course at RAF Mountbatten and it was demonstrated as in use in some large aircraft survival kits. AFAIK it was this one :
www.echomax.co.uk/solar-stills.
What became of Jim, I have no idea. He was in mid 40's (guess) when I met him, so as I was 18/19 then and am 73 now - you do the math.
Hope this helps.
@@terciops awesome thanks for telling that!
its a source of nanoplastics, it can be built wih thin glass and wood,plant fiber or ceramic
@@crapisnice😂 Sure, that sounds incredibly easy to pack up as an emergency lifesaving device. 🙄 Nothing like having to worry about your life-saving emergency water source's wood/glass/ceramic pieces accidentally getting broken while you're waiting for help to arrive... The one in this video is obviously designed to be used in case of emergency, not as a replacement for a regular fresh water source. It makes sense for this to be made out of thin inflatable polymer in order for it to be stowed away somewhere (anywhere) until needed.
I learned this in method as a science project in middle school. We put dye in water and used a burner to imitate evaporation and then put saran wrap on a slant above it to catch the evaporating water. It collected on the top and when the droplets got big enough they rolled down into a separate dish as clean fresh water. Im currently 31 and that's the main survival tactic that has stuck with me my entire life lol.
I saw the emergency blanket can be used to make such a still.
Ben Affleck and his crew taught me how to do this in middle school science in 1991 on "The Voyage of the Mimi", on the episode where the ship gets stranded on an uninhabited island and has no clean water to drink.
You should taste the water and let us know how it tastes. Thanks for the video!
No taste test?
@bettersteps….hmmm no taste test, fancy that! Pure distilled water in food grade plastic. If you think about it I bet it tastes like water. If you expected it to taste like fish your education has failed you.
@@Dixler683 wow you're salty, pun intended 😂
It would be nice to hear what it tastes like.
@@Dixler683 It's just meaningless unless we get the feedback on how it worked. I don't know how desalinated it will be. Desalination plants go through a distillation process multiple times before water is ready to drink, so I can't know about this method.
@@tsuchan too bad your basic science class education failed you. When water is boiled or allowed to evaporate only H20 molecules are produced , dissolved solids are left behind. The water produced in this survival unit is pure distilled water. It will be flavorless unless high volatile chemicals are present in the sea water. If you are using this unit and at risk of dehydration/death are you really concerned about the taste? Considering how energy intensive desalination plants are I question your claims of multiple evaporations. They do use filtration and reverse osmosis . Go to your market and purchase a bottle of distilled water and taste it. It will be flavorless and lifeless because it is pure water only. Trace minerals give certain waters a “good” taste.
Every liferaft should have that as the top of the roof.
And a rainwater collector.
Like the tent they use in Dune :) A still tent.
It's not mentioned but floating it on the water surface is important for proper function. It helps to reduce the heating of the collected condensate (after it has run down), reducing the re-evaporation of the drinkable water.
Also, not "messing" with it during the day and very carefully handling it when harvesting the condensate reduces the amount of salt contamination. Which also indicates a weak point of this device: rough water conditions can contaminate your drinkable water. (I think) The type I was shown was the round one so this one might have solved that problem, better safe than dehydration.
You would cook in it
I’m pretty sure you want it in the water to keep help condense the evaporated water inside. Otherwise it will reach an equilibrium state where the rate of condensation is cancelled by the rate of re-evaporation.
the great news is you can even use it on a sewer
You went through all of the work to make this video but don’t actually drink any to confirm to viewers that it tastes ok?!?
These have been around for about 35 years . Good product .
35 years +. I was taught to use these 1977 Merchant navy lifeboat instructions
Yes... Navy too, from the same time period.
I know of an instance where a man tried to use one but the seas were to rough and his condensate was contaminated with salt. His body was later found by fishermen, adrift in a life raft. So the story goes.
“It’s basically almost nothing, but it’s something.” 👍👍👍👍😀
😃🙌🍻
well yes , but actually No
I didn't know they worked this well. Absolutely something to put in a grab bag.
This well? 🤣
@@Ulexcool I didn't think they worked at all to be honest, but you actually get some water.
@@Thelavendel little bit of cloud, wont work. little bit of wind, wont work
These things are incredibly expensive considering the manufacturing is not much different than making an inflatable beach toy.
The irony is that in capitalism, no lives matter
Spoken like a person who has never had to rely on their equipment for survival.
If people think they need them. They can raise the price and get away with it
Offer and demand?
Quality control has to be tested on each one since it's a survival product, since if it fails the results could be deadly. Plus you have to use much higher quality food grade plastic since it's going to be exposed to high temps and something a person is going to drink water from it's surface.
If you leave in water then water will cool and lower the chamber temp thus lowering rate of water being heated from liquid to gaseous phase. Once gaseous it’ll diffuse in the chamber and hit the walls and collect and increase and roll down. More heat generates more liquid to gaseous phase. So ocean water drawing heat out of container slows process down
First time I’ve seen this, thanks Igor!
🙌👍
Simple idea, simple gadget, excellent outcome
The on dry land equivalent is a clear plastic bag around a branch of a non toxic bush with a lot of green leaves. Tied tight at top and let hang down to collect water. Needs to be in direct sunlight to work effectively.
surviving as a shipwrecked man needs to do a daily enema with sea water...
Been wanting to know. Thanks for sharing Igor!
👍🍻🙌
Clever bit of equipment. Thank you for showing us. Could be adapted for desert survival.
Yup all that water in the desert.....
@@TOMVUTHEPIMP
Well, camel urine. Ahem.
You need to keep it in the water so that the cooler water helps the moisture to condense. You need to constantly remove moisture from the air in order for more moisture to take its place through evaporation.
Condensation speeds up the EVAP rate, etc etc
That is totally wrong.
yer over thinking it
The moisture in the air in the bag will make contact with the inner bag surface and more gaseous water In The air will meet this water and combine with it until it’s big enough and heavy enough to be a visible droplet and roll down to the fresh water collection bag
Когда я учился в мореходном колледже, то запомнил пропорцию - 1:43.
Именно в такой пропорции нужно разбавлять воду, полученную дистилляцией с океанской солёной водой. чтобы получалась в итоге нужная, для питьевой воды, минерализация.
Может, кому то пригодится.
What's crazy is at work we open a lot of Life rafts that are put on all kinds of yachts not one of them has ever had a solar still in the light raft with the rest of the supplies you have a life raft whenever you get it packed make sure you add a solar still to it otherwise you won't have one
Идею придумал Жак Фреско, только в его случае была большой комплекс для обеспечения водой город или страну.
What a cool idea! Use it over any still body of water,such as the Boundary Waters ,up in Minnesota, or any lake where one camps and the water isn't moving....and I can see this on stilts for use in small streams and in quieter areas of rivers....I appreciate this idea! Thank you!
You know, I always wondered about this as a kid living in the southeastern United States during the summer. Any piece of plastic would have water on the back of it tarps buckets bottles…
It always made me think if you were to end up deserted or in a position to have to get fresh water, it would be a good idea to put your water source in a little tent made of plastic, and it would evaporate and condense. It might still stink like the source, but I never was quite sure if that was enough for it to evaporate and condense that way to drink. I swear I thought of this by myself. It’s so funny that it turns out that’s exactly what you do. I wonder why it is people think commonly like this with materials that we’ve not had but just for a few generations
The way you want that little tent setup for survival is in a hole. Put a collection bottle or clean bowl at the bottom of a small hole you can cover with plastic. Make sure the edges of the hole reach however large your piece of plastic is. Place a single rock or pebble in the center, over the bottle or bowl, and the water will drip all day down into it. After sunset, go retrieve your water.
What a clever idea. It's ideal since it doesn't take up much room in a grab bag and if you have to abandon ship you've got fresh water.
I saw a RUclips documentary of a guy that was stranded in a life raft for a few months. He survived by using 2 of these and eating raw fish.
Wow. This is only the second time I have seen one of these. The first time I saw one was on a science show (Science International, a.k.a. What Will They Think of Next?) back in the late 1970s when I was still a kid. At that time, it was something new that was still under development. I guess it must have worked because the one in this video looks almost identical to the one I saw on that show over four decades ago.
Thank you, this was very useful.
The Solar still is old. The Navy had it on life rafts before 1958, that I know of. I was SUB Duty.
This should be in every liferaft instead of canned water
Это чисто под случай караблекрушения, чтоб не сдохнуть. ))
Хороший английский, почти без акцента.
I recently heard that if you’re using this to survive, you need to put a couple drops of sea water back in to replace minerals.
DO NOT EVER DRINK SEA WATER!!!! DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS ☝️☝️☝️
@@SzymczykProductions why not? I’m not talking about drinking pure sea water. I said a couple drops. Maybe I should be more clear. Like 1 to 2 drops per liter. If you disagree that’s fine, but you gotta say why…
@@AnthonyScottGamesit's because in a few drops of sea water there is still a tremendous amount of bacteria and virus that could potentially make you extremely I'll. Plus if you're in an area with algae bloom, toxins.
You're much better off trying to get salt and minerals from consuming fish that you catch.
Much better than sea turtle blood enemas to stay hydrated. And yes that is a real thing a mother did to keep herself and her kids alive while lost at sea.
Because if you drink it you might get sick?
Love human ingenuity
Why didn't you drink the water?
I'm so inspired by your content! 🙏
Thanks 🙏
When used properly the motion of the waves accelerates the process and the catch bag hanging below facilitates fluid transfer better. I'd bet the instructions say that very thing.
Looks like potential life saver. Great gadget!
I love it and it works!
It is
How do you know? He never tasted or used the water and it could be contaminated due to faulty design. Worst review ever, lol
@@Obliticus I think the review was just to show it works
@@cjadventures8840 And we really still don't know if it does after watching this, do we?
Fill the bottom with seawater as it dark and the top is see through the sunlight will heat the bottom water. The warm water will start to evaporate the warmer the bottom the better. The steam goes up and if the cone top is cooler it will codense and fresh water will drip to side ring connected to the drinking bottle. Don't put the device in the water you cool the bottom and stop the evaporation. If anything keep out the water and put it on warm Sunny dark surface to keep the evaporation going. From time to pour cool seawater in the top t cool it and condenses faster. Ever boiled pot of soup? If you cool the bottom it will stop evaporating
Remember To
Clean The
Salt Buildup,
It Affects The
Absorbtion Of Heat!
It’s also good for freshwater because a lot of the bacterial and what not contaminant gets left behind since it’s not carried on the water vapor inside the still
If they replace sections of the plastic with thin wafers of magnifying glass and find a more efficient way from getting the fresh water from the sides, I but it would be so much better.
That should be on every boat emergency kit, seriously.
If you put a small solar cell, and a pump you can pump the cold water over the top to get much more condensation
I know the heat and evaporation of the salt water is what your looking for but I would think the fresh water collected around the bottom edges you would want some what cool (or at the sea surface temp) to keep it from evaporating back into the still.
That's impressive.
You need to add a vacuum hand pump to the unit to create a lower vapour pressure inside the unit, which will lower the temperature boiling point of the water and accelerate evaporation.
Not gonna work in a unit this small, dude.
The water surface is too small and it wouldn't weight enough to prevent it from rising up and filling the thingy with water.
If you are using a handpump, better add a small RO filter and directly pump out drinking water.
It's inflatable. If you turned it into a vacuum it would collapse from the outside air pressure.
Amazing design.
You want to leave it on the water. It needs heat to evaporate the water, and cool to condense it.
It works better if you let it in the water, because the cooling effect will help the condensation of the fresh water.
Under the sun, the black mateiral were the salt water pools will be hot enough.
US Navy filters water either by evap or reverse osmosis. We weren't allowed to run the water production until we were in somewhat clean water. One should not use this device near land.
does bacteria evaporate with the water?
I came up with an idea like that about thirty years ago. I was working a pay-check to pay-check job and did not have the money to develop it.
Wait... this is so cool!!!
Making it float seems a bad idea because the cold water would slow evaporation.
everything is fine until the shark gets interested.
Thanks!
Very good for distilling moonshine! Fresh moonshine in the middle of the ocean! Fantastic ! Cheap and cheerful 😆
That thing produced very little water. It's better than nothing, but if you rely on that for all of your water, you will not have enough.
i am disappointed you did not show a taste test.
Still needs to be floating, so it can work on difference in temperature between the greenhouse top and the cooler water below. That's what makes the evaporating seawater condense and flow down the cone.
I wonder how long the plastic can last in the sunshine. I hope that's been taken care of.
Nice design. Could we have something that covers more area and produces more water, other than a bigger still.
Excellent !!! Thaks for this video
i drink sea water everyday, the salt is just an added bonus. I don't see the problem.
I think it works better in the ocean rather then your boat because the bag holding water is underneath easier to drain. When on your boat the bag was level water had hard time draining. think I am getting 1 works good
the old slow method for a life raft. Make a roll of the boat during the rain and collect water at the bottom of the sail - so you can stock up on water until the next rain
You can also extract water from non-poisonous trees/plants by the same method. Enclose the branch with a plastic bag, tie it off and wait for the moisture release in the morning. Again,, KNOW your trees, bushes and shrubs BEFORE you do this.
DISCLAIMER. I am not instructing you to do this. This has been from MY personal experience. All people have different allergens. Do NOT try anything until you have been informed and understand your body and the possible allergens that affect you.
I designed one of these in 2002 as part of my undergrad engineering degree.
It's damn near identical to this.
You weren't failed for copying a decades old design?
Yea seriously these have been around since AT LEAST the early 70s. I know because I had to use one a few times in survival training back then.
Could save your life. Good invention.
"It's hotter cuz the water is cooling down the whole system"... solid
WHAT A LIFE SAVING INVENTION. I HOPE IS COMPULSARY ON ALL OCEAN. GOING. BOATS, AND ALSO IN ALL CROSS COUNTRY. CAR AND CAMPING RALLIES.
Very interesting. Thanks for the video
Thanks 🙏
Very valuable bit of kit but how long does this equipment last?
it's made to function when the dome has lots of slack and wrinkles in it. it will produce about 3x the water than if it is stretched tight. personal experience
So maybe it would benefit from some vertical ribs inside to encourage the water to flow down ....
personal experience was in glassy-flat water, or shakin' ripples?
Thank you for the video.
🙏🍻
Christ, I thought that place looked familiar. There is no way you're in Polace, I used to go there all the time as a kid 😂
This still was invented just before or during WWII and used by the NAVY in life boats.
I love those days when its not hot but its hot.
Just imagine how much water you'd have if you left it out overnight!!
🗿
Overnight? It need the sun to produce condensation. 😂😂😂
I need a couple dozen of these. I would like to take a bath everyday if I was lost at sea.
They sell them surplus.
Don't forget the ice maker
You uh. . .you can bathe in salt water. It won't hurt you. You just can't drink it. you don't been fresh water for a bath. Jesus christ. Go read a book.
It need to be in the water, the cooling effect assists condensation
Seems like a useful tool to have with a lifeboat...
Depending on outside temps and activity level, a human needs about 2 liter of water per day. Probably more in an area where a solar still would actually work. Looks like each human would need four of these units to survive.
I learned how to build a solar still when I was in Boy Scouts.
seems to lose a lot of efficiency due to the condensation on the transparent plastic film, the micro bubbles become like a super reflector.
Fish etc are curious about these stills, and can easily puncture them. I read of this from a shipwrecked couple who had a liferaft.
*It is a bad design. The best uses a simple black trash can liner made for a large 55 gallon drum size. The water is collected in a sponge ring or cloth.*
I had the same idea. The cool thing is if you had enough inflatables and gave it a structure of super black body pillars running through it and supporting it you could layer it. Have multiple layers of water being heated by the sun. I think one issue is the refraction the condensate makes. You could fix this with a super white body passive cooling. Basically even in direct sunlight this material is so reflective of light and IR energy it can passively cool. It takes direct contact to transfer heat into it. Have this in a cone at the top and let it build the condensate there. Or in my idea it would be dispersed through the layers in a grid pattern. Then you could float these on any sea or ocean and collect potable water. Though you could probably just drink it i imagine if the system stayed wet for weeks some bacterial growth would form in the distillate tube. Its just water vapor but some dust might get drawn in.
I think it works better in the sea so the cooler ocean water helps collect the condensate.
It doesn't. The black bottom is black so it is heated more than the top. The top is where the water vapor condenses, not the sides or bottom. Being in the water defeats this. Its only designed to float because its for an emergency life raft where they would be no room in it for a still.
No. You want it as hot as possible in the chamber. The heat is what makes the water evaporate, which is the more necessary part. As long as the air is cooler than the inside, its going to condense. The faster it evaporates, the faster it can collect. You want it to be as hot as physically possible.
@@obsidianjane4413 Yeah. This still is optimized for simplicity and low maintenance rather than efficiency. Any other design would be too complex to fit in such a small package.
Its good you try one so you know how to use it if you ever had too
I wonder how you keep in clean with all the minerals and salt? I am honestly curious!
It should work better while in the water correct? I believe the general concept requires hot moist air and a cool surface to condensate on
Probably on land as it heats up more. Being in water is cooling down the water you want to heat up.
Every ditch bag should have one of these.
instead of a parallel round bottom it should have a slope so that all the water gets collected effectively
Two questions:
1. Will this work on a larger scale?
2. This will remove almost all the minerals, how about micro-organisms?
Thank You. Excellent presentation.
1- Larger scale would need a better source of energy, like a solar mirror. This is an emergency water supply only.
2- you do not need to eliminate 100% of the salinity, 0,5% salt concentration is actually healtier in the situation that it is designed to be used. Most of the microorganisms are killed by the sun's UV rays, however you should drink all the water, storing it will let them time to reproduce and make you sick.
It will remove the minerals and kill most the microbes, given your water source isn't too bad.
I have no idea how they put the minerals back.
Don't forget UV spectrum of the light. It's one of the best possibilities to make drinking water safe.
Going on a trip to Hawaii this spring and wanted to learn how these work for my first time flying over the ocean haha. Yeah I know flying is safe but if something did happen I would be pissed if I didn't take the 5 min to learn. I'm pretty sure over ocean flights keep these I'm their life rafts.
😀🙌
They most likely don’t have these. If anything were to happen, the aircraft is in constant radio contact with Search and Rescue. Nothing will happen. Relax, enjoy the flight and have a wonderful time!
If you crash over the ocean you're dead buddy.
did you take a fire extinguisher?
no test drink? there was one guy who drifted for 40 days or so and he had two of them and wasnt much happy with them, said better collect rainwater
I can visualize several improvements which will enhance production and also enhance collection.... nice concept though.
Heck yeah!